The Star of The Night
by J.J.88
Summary: Possessed someone else's body was not a fun experience, especially someone dear to Severus Snape. She just signed up for the death penalty of her life. Well, at least, that was she thought...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** All belong to J.K. Rowling

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 **The Girl from The Other World**

A flash of light blinded her eyes. She blinked rapidly to regain her view. The last thing she remembered was her boyfriend grabbed her hand and jumped down a bridge. When her body hit the water, her mind went blank. By the time, she regained her consciousness, she was standing in the middle of a battle. And it was not a normal battle. There were wizards and witches, throwing spell after spell to each other.

Before she had the time to process the scene in front of her, a dark figure blocked her view.

"If you want to die, then continue to stand there," a dark figure spoke to her with his steady but deep voice. "Otherwise, either fight or retreat back to the headquarter."

She tried to respond but her instinct kicked in. She quickly turned around before the man could react, she casted a defensive spell blocking whatever flew directly to them. _She knew magic? Wait? What?_

"Miss Holmes, welcome back," the man said sarcastically.

"Yeah, right," she sounded even more annoying than ever.

Multiple spells suddenly targeted them. The man blocked most of them and sent out spells to different directions. She was able to hold off the rest of the spells and created a strong shield around themselves.

"Nice work, Miss Holmes," he made a compliment.

"Wait, did you just compliment me?" she surprised at her question, why she had the feeling that he never gave a compliment before.

He did not reply to her question but glanced to the back and gave her a puzzling look. She took a quick look at his face and her eyes opened widely. She just saw the face of the infamous wizard, Severus Snape. Who could, no, it was more like no-one would believe if she told them who she met. For a few second, she stared at the wizard amazingly.

At that moment, a loud explosion hit close to where they stood. He quickly put his arm around her waist, pulled her close to him, and disapparated out of there.

Apparition now listed as one of her most uncomfortable transportation. She could not describe the motion of stretching, pulling, pressing, and twisting at every part of her body. She wondered how one would feel if something left behind. They arrived to a small village located deep in the forest. The moment their feet touched the ground, Severus lost his balance and almost dragged her down with him.

"Are you alright?" She felt a deep concern to the wizard, not sure where the feeling came from. Even though, she was not feeling good herself, the urge of vomit was right there in the middle of her throat. She gladed that she withheld the unpleasant action.

He shook his head, denying the pain that twisted his muscles. He still leaned to her, but trying not put too much of his weight on her. She did not found his words was convinced, she held his body steadily while following him to one of the houses at the end of the road.

When they stood in front of the house, Severus whispered something and the door opened. She guessed that the house was under a protection charm and he just lifted the wand to let them in. She thought that only Severus and her would stay there, but her assumption soon faded when people came out from nowhere.

"Merlin, we thought we lost you guys there for a minute," a young man with glasses, put his hand to Severus's back as he led them to the living room. She felt his body reacted uncomfortably to the young man's touch. It seemed that she was the only one he would lean completely to with a single thought of how heavy he was.

"Severus! Kate!" a man in his forties tried to embrace both of them at the same time.

 _Kate?_ She was kind of figuring her name in this world, Kate Holmes. It was not a name that she liked, but she thought she could live with it.

Severus tried to step away from the man's embrace, but something prevented him from moving backward. She squeezed her eyes at the wizard and it finally clicked to her. He was injured himself from the battle and he tried to endure the pains the entire time.

"Stubborn man," she groaned under her breath as she dragged him to upstair, after excused themselves from everyone. However, she caught some of their looks, they looked very amusing. _What were they thinking?_

"Where is your room?" she whispered softly to him, hoping no-one heard her question.

He gave her the puzzling look again, but did not make any comment. He pointed to the fourth room on the left. She pushed the door open and dragged him in.

"I don't understand men at all," she spoke up while pushing him down to the bed. "Why do you guys need to keep all the pains to yourself? You know communication is the best method in a healthy relationship." She wondered what made her to make those strange comments. She did not deny that she got pissed off with him for hiding the injuries from her. However, she did not think their relationship was anything further than an ally in a battlefield. _Was it?_

Severus kept his gaze close at her, studying her as she unbuttoned his coat and his shirt. He felt his heart was beating fast the moment her fingers touched his chest. He frowned at his feeling, which he knew he should not have. This was not the first time she touched him. _So, why did he feel nervous?_ His eyes met her own as she was looking up to him, and his face turned from confused to rigid. He used legilimency to clarify his doubts of her strange behaviors. However, he looked into someone else's memories, not his Katherine. He moved back quickly, his wand pointed right at her.

"Who are you?" he hissed.

At that moment, she knew he figured out who she was. She licked her lips out of her habit and stepped down from the bed. Then she made another discovery of her life, she basically claimed up to him and unbuttoned _most_ of his coat and shirt. _That was a strange reflex, feeling like this was not her first time doing this._

"I am not sure," she honestly answered, hiding away her embarrassment.

"Don't lie to me," he angrily snapped back. "Did Orpheus send you here?"

 _Orpheus?_ She opened her mouth but then closed it back. She looked at him with even more confusing than before.

"Is that the guy from Greek mythology?" She tried to make sure that she did not hear it wrong. _Who would name their child as one of the Greek mythology's characters?_

Now was his turn to look her with curiosity. He shook his head, "I hear that a lots, but no, he is not the man from the Greek mythology."

"Ah, well, I don't even know how did I get here," she led the conversation back, trying to ignore the man named _Orpheus._ "But, I can guarantee you that I have no intention to harm you or anyone here."

Severus did not believe in her words, "Explain yourself."

Her eyes moved from his wand to his face, that impassive expression was terrifying. If she moved, she believes he would cast a nasty spell at her.

"I don't expect you to understand what I'm going to tell you," she started but definitely heard him snorted at her assumption. "My name is Stella and I shared the same last name with Kate. The last thing I remember before waking up and standing in the middle of the battlefield was jumped down off a bridge with my boyfriend. I believe in a fictional theory that my soul somehow swapped with Kate's."

Severus actually rose one his eyebrows at her story, but he knew she was telling the truth. When he entered her mind briefly, he saw the image of someone called her name, _Stella_. However, the idea of time traveling, no, she sounded like it more than time traveling.

"What do you mean by soul swapping?" he asked.

"Ok, there is a type of fiction's plot in my world that when the main characters died in tragic death or simply tripped over a banana's skin and hit their head, their souls would travel to a different timeline and entered someone else's body," she explained quickly as she held her breath and waited for his reaction.

He frowned at her explanation. Even with time-turner, they needed to transport both body and soul. He never heard of something similar to what the girl was telling. However, he could tell the person stood in front of him was no longer Katherine.

"And what happened to the other soul?" he questioned her, trying to not mention Katherine's name. He feared he could not hold up the trembling feeling he was building up until now.

"In most cases…" she paused, not sure if her answer would hurt him emotionally or not. "In most cases, the other soul passes on. However, in some cases, the souls co-exist."

He was lower his wand when the word, "pass on," reached his ears. He remembered to see a spell hit Katherine a second before he jumped in. However, he was surprised to see she was doing fine when he came for her. He was happy and almost wanted to embrace her tightly. He thought… no, he lost her the moment he stood in front of her. He was late… again.

"Severus?" Stella called out his name when she saw his expression. _That girl meant a lots to him_.

"Don't… please," his hand stopped her to come close to him. "Please leave." She might not be Katherine from inside, but outside, she looked the same. Even her voice rang beautifully in his ears. It was too hurting to look at her and knowing she was no longer alive.

Her heart stopped for a second as she looked at him. It was a painfully sight to see someone trying to hold back their feeling. He looked so much like _him._ She ignored his request and took his hand, pulling him close to her. She knelt on the bed while pressed her body to hold him tightly. Her arms wrapped his head while her fingers smoothed his hairs. She tried to give him some supports. He, however, struggled, trying to free himself from her embrace. He did not need her pity. He did not need anything. He just needed… _her._ He suddenly respond to her embrace by held her back. His hands grabbed hardly to the back of her coat as she was his only lifesaver. He buried himself to her body, feeling the familiar warm and his tears involuntary felt down, "Please… don't leave… me…"

"No, I won't," she whispered back to him, soothing the heartbreaking emotion between them.

They stayed like that for hours until she heard his breath was even out; _he fell asleep._ She let him laid down carefully on the bed. Her eyes caught a part of red spot on his white shirt. She remembered that she was going to check for his injuries, but the talk prevented the work. She moved his shirt out cautiously, not wanting to wake him up. Gladly, he only moved a little bit, but did not awake.

The injuries was not visible as much as she thought. Only a long cut from his chest to his stomach. It was not deep, but enough to cause pain and discomfort. She subconsciously cast a diagnosed charm on him to check if he had any internal injuries. He had two broken ribs but not severe. She murmured the healing spell for broken bones then cleaned up the blood. Finally, finished off the cut by sealing it up with a spell. She did the job thoroughly and surprised to see that she had a great memories of the magic's spells and charms.

She claimed off the bed and grabbed a blanket. She put it on him after dressed him back to his clothes. She sat quietly next to him, thinking about everything just happened. She did not understand any of these, and she clearly did not wish to steal someone's life away. She brushed off a few hairs on his face. It was the first time, she looked at someone else slept with a peaceful expression like that. Even, her boyfriend had a hard time to remain comfortable in sleep. She wondered if he got his second chance like her. She closed her eyes and left out a deep sigh. She stood up and walked out of the room.

Was this really her second change? To create more pains to others as she did in the other world? She shook her head, not taking pleasure in this setting. She already made a man suffered another lost. She led herself down to the first floor as she was a bit of hungry.

"Today is Halloween right?" A male voice spoke up

"Yes, but at least he has someone close by this time," another male expressed himself. "He's always moody during this time of year. I don't know how Kate does it, but she makes him feel relax and love."

"She has a big heart and a tolerance attitude," a female voice added. "I am glad that he finds someone who can ease his pains away."

Stella stood there, freezing at the spot. She might not read the whole series of the books, but she knew enough of what they were talking about. October 31st, the day that… he lost… two women that he loved.

Before she knew, a sharp pain ran through her head, she collapsed on the floor, out cold.

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 **A/N:** I was writing another ff when this idea popped up. So while I wait for my beta to check my other story, I take sometime for this one. The idea is not new but I still want to try it out. Happy fun reading and don't forget to review. Fire won't last without fuel lol Love!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** All belong to J.K. Rowling

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 **The Man from This World**

A strong wind blew the curtains to open and knocked a glass, placed on the desk, down, hitting the floor and shattered. The sound of the crash woke Severus up from his exhausted sleep. He tiredly opened his eyes and looked around for the cause of the disturbing noise. Then he found the broken glass on the floor, he waved his wand to clear it away. He sat up, noticing that the wound had stopped bleeding and the pains were no longer there. _Stella_. She probably fixed him up after he fell asleep.

The wind continued made its way into his room, moving the curtains and flew some of the old parchments off the desk. He left his bed, remembering about their conversation while moved to the window and finally closed it. Staring to the gray sky, a part of him did not want to believe in her story. He was being paranoid to the theory and the idea of soul swapping from two different worlds sounded a bit too unlogical. _Even though, they might be possible to happen. This is a magical world, after all._ He needed more proofs in the matter, thus, he would talk to her again. At least, making sure she would not do anything that harmed their current operation.

Those parchments still laid on the floor, peeking out one that had the words, Marriage Contract.

Leaving his room, Severus walked down to the first floor. Everything seemed unusually quiet. With the whole Weasley's family from Molly and Arthur to their grandchildren, and other operation's members, the house could not be this peaceful. Then he heard soft chattering in the living room, probably people were discussing of what happened today. However, when he entered the place, he saw everyone was gathering around the couch, muttering quickly died out as they saw him appeared from the doorway.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Luna Lovegood was pouring something down to someone's throat. He made his way through the crowd to have a better view. And his feet stopped immediately when he saw Stella was laying there with her eyes closed.

"What happened, Potter?" he grabbed the young man's shoulder, who stood in front of him.

"We found her collapsed in the hallway," Harry explained. "We thought she might have an aftereffect, you know the spell that hit her was a nasty one. Even though, Luna says that her body does not suffer any effect at all, she refuses to wake up"

"Refuses to wake up?" Severus frowned. His hand gripped tightly to Harry's shoulder, making the young man made a painful face. _She cannot die at this moment._ He still had so many questions to ask her, to… doubtless, he tried to deceived himself into believe that Katherine was still alive.

"That hurts, Snape," Harry tried to remove Severus's hand. "We flooed Poppy earlier. When she arrives, we will have a better understanding of her stage."

Severus was not bother to see Harry's face as he walked right next to Stella. He knew one way to verify the situation and hopefully he would able to bring her back.

"Miss Lovegood, allow me," Severus gave Luna a sign to leave the matter to him. The girl nodded as she understood his intention. She stood up, stepped back, and gave him the space.

"What's he doing?" a young man with red hair whispered to Harry.

"Legilimency," Harry murmured back.

Severus knelt next to the couch and cared her cheek, not aware that people behind him looked entertained at his action. He leaned down and let his forehead met her own. He closed his eyes and spoke softly to her. A short moment later, he entered her mind.

Inside Stella's mind was dark without any memory. He found himself walking on an endless road. The more he went deeper, the more confused it became. He completely lost in her mind.

"Stella!" He called, wishing the name would draw her out. However, he honestly wanted to call Katherine's name, but knowing there was a little change of she was alive. He sighed inwardly, continuing his search to a very different person.

Five minutes went by but nothing happened. Severus began to get impatient. He actually cast a few of hexes and threw them aimlessly into the space. Surprisingly, it actually brought out the one he was looking for.

"Why are you still here in my dream?" Stella asked him confusingly. "And why did you hex like a madman?"

He narrowed his eyes at her, processing her words. _She thought this was a dream?_ As much as he was trying to think, his brain had not failed to make him stared at the young girl's appearance. She was shorter than Katherine. Her long hair and eyes matched the color of a hazelnut. She wore a black t-shirt, a jean vest, a regular blue jean, and a pair of sneakers. She did not have the glamorous look as Katherine, but her appearance was unique and _lovable._ The softness in his eyes disappeared quickly as he regained his usual emotionless face.

"I believe this is not a dream, Miss Holmes," her surname sounded suddenly strange on his tongue as he stated the truth, "Thus, it's not that complicated to see me again, and for your curiosity, I am not a mad man. I was simply trying to to lure you out and succeed."

She gaped at him, her mouth opened to an "O" shape, but she waved her hand in front of her face, dismissing the idea. She was almost believing that this was all real. _The time-traveling, the soul swapping, and the lost of his… second lover._ She convinced herself of this was a dream, nothing more.

"It's definitely a dream," she argued, denying all the possibility aspects. "There is no such thing as time-traveling, Professor Snape. You and this world are nothing but made up by my mind."

Severus browsed at her, observing the change in her behavior. "And if this is a dream, Miss Holmes, how can you explain this continuing of conversation? As far as I understand of the dream's concept, it's like broken movie with mix-match scenes and nonsense information. Sometimes, you may re-experience certain memories, but that pretty much a dream can do to you. You cannot control you dream."

"Ah, that's where you are wrong, my beloved Professor," she came close to him and patted softly to his arm, making the man inhaled a very sharp breath. "I can control and pretty much change certain parts of the dream, if I like. And about conversation? This is nowhere close to what I have dreamed."

"Fascinating, Miss Holmes," Severus sneered, having no time to chat with her. He needed to bring her back quickly, otherwise, he feared that she would drift herself into the nothingness. "Let me demonstrate a hypothesis then."

Stella observed the wizard as he was unmoved. She began to have doubt herself in the idea of these things could be true. As she blinked her eyes in a second, she saw his face came close to her, just an inch away to each other. She could feel his warm breath on her skin, and her heartbeat was skipping its pulse.

"What are you trying to do, Professor?" she whispered, breathing difficulty as one of his hands wrapped around her waist, moving her body close to his. Her hands tried to push him back, but felt weakly to the familiar sense.

He smirked, knowing well she would be surprised. He pressed his lips to her own, sucking gently to her bottom lip with his other hand held the back of her neck steadily. She, on the other hand, was trying to pull away, struggling in his arms like a helpless victim. However, she could not deny that his kiss was very enjoyable one. Who could believe someone as cold as him had such a passionate kiss like that, and not forget to mention his warm and tender lips. She began to give in and bypassed all logical mind now.

In the meantime, he was patient, waiting for her to sink into his action. The moment she allowed his tongue to enter inside her mouth, he was not shy to force in and tasted her. _Chocolate mint?_ The edge of his lips curved up into a small smile of satisfaction, he just tasted his favorite flavor. He could feel her body relaxed and she moaned lustfully to the pleasure that he was giving her. However, when she started to explore his mouth, he pulled away and let his lips brushed softly to her skin as he made his way to her ear. He whispered something like a charm and his hands let go of her. Before an unknown force pulled her away into the darkness, she heard a finger snapping. And soon, his image disappeared from her mind as well.

At the outside, everyone was watching the scene carefully. Madam Pomfrey arrived to the house just a few minutes after Severus performed his Legilimency. She listened to Luna's report of what she found. The old witch did not make any comment, she simply waited for the wizard to finish his part, so she could begin her diagnosis. There was not much she could tell just from hearing the symptoms, which did not sound like anything she knew. She needed to check them out by her own.

An hour passed by and nothing seemed to change. Some people left the living room and headed to the kitchen. It was almost dinner time and they knew these things could take hours to finish. But then, for those who remained behind, they saw Severus straightened himself up as he pulled away from Katherine. The young witch also sat up immediately after the wizard. Her eyes opened widely in shock. The moment she recognized the person knelt next her, she slapped across his face.

"You! Bastard!" She hissed angrily.

But her slap did not make his smirk faded away, he snapped his finger and she fell back to the couch, into a deep sleep.

"Severus, what happened to Miss Holmes?" Madam Pomfrey rushed to the wizard.

However, the wizard did not hear the old witch's voice. His hand was still on his cheek, feeling the warm that her hand left behind. Oddly but terrifying to him, he enjoyed kissing her. Even though, it was a mere division to make her mind went blank in order for the spell to work. It made him questioned his love to Katherine. She merely passed away today… no, a few hours ago. And here was him, forgetting her. His face got darken. He stood up and stormed out of the room.

Madam Pomfrey narrowed her eyes at Severus, could not understand his reaction. However, she had more important things to focus on. She looked back at Katherine and began her check-up.

"How is she, Poppy?" Harry sounded concerned. He always had a thing for her, but never braved enough to confess his feeling to her. Then it was too late, when Severus and her became a couple.

"It seems that whatever Severus had done, he succeeded. She was no longer suffering a coma," Madam Pomfrey concluded her check-up.

"So everything's fine now?" Harry's face lighted up at the news.

Madam Pomfrey nodded as she flooed away. Harry looked down at Katherine and picked her up, carrying her to the second floor. _I'm glad that you're alright, Katie._

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 **A/N:** There's a bit of action there with Severus, but pretty much that's it for the rest of the story (or, well, depend on my moods lol). So, let read and review everyone. Love!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** All belong to J.K. Rowling

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 **She Did Not Came to This World by Coincidence**

Floating, that was how she felt when she regained her conscious after collapsing in the hallway. Much different than the first time she opened her eyes, this time was only darkness surrounding her. She looked down to her hands and not surprise to know that she saw nothing. She convinced herself that she must enter the place between life and death. Her soul was waiting to call to heaven, or worst, hell. However, time went slowly and nothing came, she began to get bored. Now, she did not care which place accepted her, at least at either place she would have something to do. Suddenly, a light came out from nowhere, flying above her head, and another one to her right, then the last one was flying directly her.

Horrifying, she tried to dodge the light but failed as it went right through her. _What's the fuck?_ She cursed as she realized it did not harm her in any way. Now she remembered that she was a soul, and a soul was not much different than ghost. It would not affect by any physical activity. Yet, the source of the light was poking right into her curiosity. As the will of moving came across her mind, her feet subconsciously touched the ground. She began her exploration.

The _adventure_ actually did not take long as she was hoping for. She only needed four steps and found the source of those _crazy_ lights, Severus Snape. _What's the hell?_ She wondered herself why of all the people in her life, she saw him _again_ before passing to the next life. _And he was not even real._

Questioning the man was not a good move. He gave her the answer that she barely registered a thing. Then he threw her words back into her face with the notion of dreams and realities. Now, she regretted her time in her university, especially those psychology's classes. _Damn it, I am arguing with a so-call Potion Professor about dreams._ She cursed again, but inaudible enough so the man could not hear.

Then, everything became blurry. She had a vague memory of what happened in the end, before an unknown source of power pulled her away from him. A strange feeling shot up in her, waking herself from her unconscious mind. The moment her eyes landed on him, she remembered exactly of what happened a moment ago. Anger, _but mostly embarrassment_ , was the last push she needed as she slapped across his face. After that, everything went black when the sound of his fingers' snapping.

In the midst of her unconsciousness, she thought she heard someone was yelling, followed by a door slamming. A strange feeling as someone carried her away. Then, again, the noise died out as well as her mind.

Subsequently, she founded herself opened her eyes once more time.

Stella slowly regained her conscious as she trying to open her eyes. The first thing reached to her pupils was the dusty ceiling. She stared at the spiderwebs had gathered in the corner for a long time, until she heard someone cleared their throat.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Miss Holmes" Severus with arms crossed firmly front of his chest, watched her.

She concentrated on the man's face, rolling her eyes, she murmured, "Fuck!" She groaned and continued to curse in her head, realizing that she was still in his world.

" _Beautiful_ language," he sneered at her. "How's your headache?"

 _Headache_? She shook her head, replying, "I don't think there is any."

"That's good," he stood up, heading to the bookshelf that placed against the wall across her bed, and took something. When he turned back, he handed two potion vials. "Drink them!"

"Why?" She asked suspiciously. Her annoying doubtfulness suddenly became strong. There was a tiny voice in her head, reminding her of who caused the death of his love one.

"Doubtful, huh?" He chuckled at her expression. "Have a little faith in the situation, Miss Holmes. To everyone here, you're alive. Killing you only raise their suspicious, especially, I went to all the troubles to bring you back here." Somehow, the man knew what caused her discomfort from.

Her eyes moved back and forth from his face to the potions in his hand, checking his expression. Eventually, she took them and drank. Once they passed through her throat, she squeezed her eyes hard, dued to the unpleasant taste, but mostly she still thought they were poisons.

"What's kind of troubles?" She asked, making her mind to focus in the conversation than the taste that was still lingering on her tongue.

He looked at her as he was choosing between telling her how he got her back from Harry's room or just completely ignored her question. And he chose to ignore.

"For my own curiosity," he sat back to his chair, his elbows touched his laps while hands clapped together, leaning forward to her. "You seem to lose that confidence from yesterday. Do you have the tendency of being calm first and panic later?"

She glanced at him, fully aware of his tendency in avoiding uncomfortable questions. She followed the float, but she would bring it back some other time. She could be very persistent, if she chose to.

"I thought I was in a dream. I'm always more confident in the dream than in reality," she played with the potion vials in her hands, noticing that he mentioned their first encounter was _yesterday._ "How long did I sleep?"

"One and half days," he replied, reaching out and stopped her hands from playing with the vials. "But, even now, your eyes show no fear while you're talking to me. Well, except when I offered the potions."

"You…" she paused, gathering her thought, then gave him a friendly smile. "Your appearance is not that terrified as described in the books, but I cannot guarantee about your personalities, especially after what happened to _her._ A bit of caution won't kill me."

She did not look at him anymore. She felt guilty for causing her death. The silence occupied the room for sometimes. His hands still held her own, refused to let go.

"A book?" He finally spoke, ignored about what she said in the end, _again_ , and focused at something else. "What do you mean by that?"

"Ah, in my world, your world is just a fictional work," she slowly gave the vials back into his palm, letting go of his grab.

"Interesting," he sounded amused, retreating back to his formal sitting's gesture. "So in this world of your, does magic exist?"

"No, magic is only a work of fiction," she replied. "However, there is the famous Salem Witch Trials, happened in America. Therefore, technically, the world of magic is still under questioned of many believers."

"That sounds like some insane cults," he smirked.

"You mean the Salem Witch Trials?" She confused.

"Oh, no. I was talking about the _believers,_ " he suddenly relaxed and leaned back against his chair. "Let talk about the books then. What's in there?"

"I never finish the whole series, but the story is about…" she told him everything that she remembered. She made sure each element she gave out was reasonable, at least, his personal information must be accurate. Her life depended on them. He was convinced that she was from a different world, which she did, she could not let her usual absent mind caused any trouble. By the end of the story, the light from the sunrise leaped through the gap of the curtains, breaking the conversation was about to end.

Severus stood up, walked close to the window as he moved the curtain to one side. He gave the window's doors a little push. The moment the window opened the air of the early morning flushing into the room, cleaning away the polluted atmosphere from previous night.

Stella was looking at him when she saw the sunlight touched his face. A few locks of his hair were moving softly as the morning breeze came in. For the first time since she woke up, she had a good look at the man. The years of hardship in his life made him looked older than his age was. She wondered what exactly happened after he survived the attack of Nagini. And _Kate_ , he did not seem to affect by her death, but knowing him from the book, he was suffering in silence.

"You know, I haven't ask you which year are we in yet?" her slow curiosity finally kicked in.

"I thought you never ask," he said sarcastically. "Two thousand and two."

"Four years since the fall of Voldemort?" she asked.

"Yes," he agreed.

"I go back in time, fifteen years," she sighed. Her time-traveling was getting better and better now. _What else can I do? Waking up a sleepy Dark Lord?_ She shook her head of her _creative_ mind.

"I will bring the breakfast up here for you," he broke his eyes away from the window and stopped at her. "And stop worrying about the problem for a moment. You need a few rest before we decide what to do after this."

In a second, she thought she saw a lingering hesitation in his eyes, but it disappeared quickly as it came. He nodded at her while leading himself out of the room. She waited until there was only silent left in the room, she began to cry. Tears just came out like they had built up in her eyes for long time. She did not know what caused of the tears, but she wanted to cry, letting out everything she held inside for so long. In a brief moment, she heard someone's voice echoed in her ears, "Take it, Stella. If I success, we'll meet again in the new world."

 _The new world?_ She used her shirt's sleeve to wipe away her tears. She quickly searched in her jeans pocket as she knew she would find something there. And she found it, a silver pentacle. _Charley… he knew? But how? My soul is the only thing that comes back here. This pentacle cannot be here..._

"Molly said this soup is your favorite, but I doubt you will like it now," Severus's voice snatched her out of her thinking.

She looked up and saw the man, who was levitating two trays of food into the room. When his eyes caught her messed-up face, he frowned.

"What happened?" He sounded worried.

"I… found this," she ignored the matter of why she was crying, instead showing him the pentacle in her palm. _I'm learning his unhealthy behavior._

His eyes scanned the item quickly as he put the trays down on the desk. He took it from her palm, checking it carefully.

"Who gave you this?" His voice became more serious.

"Charley…" she paused, her hands grabbed the bed's cover tightly as if he could kill her at anytime. _His gaze was terrifying._ "My boyfriend."

"The one jumped off the bridge with you?" He clarified the information again.

"Yes," she nodded.

"I don't think your soul come to this world by coincidence, Miss Holmes," he said while playing with the pentacle in his fingers.

"What do you mean by that?" she did not understand his meaning.

"If you look closer to the circle around the star, you will see some engraving words on it," the pentacle stopped between his thumb and index finger as he showed her the words. "The words are enchanted and I don't recognize its language, but I can say that it's the reason you come to this world."

"You mean…" she took the pentacle from his hand, looked at it with a lot of questions ran inside her mind. "Charley… he may be a wizard?"

"I don't know about that part, but whoever has accessed to this item, can't be a Muggler. Now eat, before Molly marching up here and demanding another treat for you," he voice became less serious than before. "We can process anything with an empty stomach, Miss Holmes."

She just nodded and took the tray from him. Her mind was still processing the information he gave her. She tried to think of anything odd with Charley, but nothing came back. She laid the tray on her bed and grabbed the bowl of soup. She took a sip of the soup. He was right, _it did not taste that favorable._ And yet, she stared at its musty color as if it would have all the answers she was asking.

"It is still a bowl of soup, Miss Holmes" Severus suddenly spoke. "It cannot predict any future, present, or past."

She rose her left eyebrow at him. _Did he just make a joke?_ She looked back to the bowl and her laugh soon filled the room.

"That was rich, Severus…" her voice stopped immediately as she realized she called him by his given name since she woke up. Even in her dream, she still called him as _Professor Snape._ "I'm sorry. It was inappropriate."

Severus could feel his heart skipped a beat as he heard his name passed through her lips. He was succeeded in denying her appearance who still resembled of Katherine and in her voice as she spoke in a very different way. However, he did not prepare for this.

In his mind, he fought himself not to make any stupid move. However, his body reacted before he could stop it.

Severus stood up and came close to Stella. His hand reached out and touched her cheek. It was warm as always. _He misses them, the touch, her skin, and the warmth._

Stella kept her eyes on the man who completely lost his mind somewhere else. She knew he was thinking about her again. She felt sad and her guilt came up again. She did not want him to suffer the pain again, but it was not an easy task when she was possessing her body.

"Staring at me will not give you the answer that you want, because the future, the present, and the past are not on this face," she rephrased his joke just now, hoping that it would break the ice.

However, it only startled the man, making him stumbled backward. He ran out of the room and closed the door a bit too strong, making her shaking up.

 _I and my sense of humor just went terribly wrong._

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 **A/N:** Read  & review ^x^ And thanks to all of my reader ^^


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** All belong to J.K. Rowling.

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 **His Moment and Her Decision**

Severus ran out of the room again. His right hand, which touched her a moment ago, was shaking. _What am I doing? She's death and that girl is not her._ His legs suddenly refused to stay stable as they stumbled back and hit the door behind him. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to ease the headache that caught up to the incident. _She's death, Severus. She's death._ He murmured as if he wanted to imprint that word to his mind forever. It was too difficult to talk to her body and realized that she was not there anymore. His back slided down as he sat on the floor, not care if anyone would find him there. His whole body rested against the door, looking blankly to the wall across. The hallway was dark and quiet as it wanted to accommodate his mood, mourning the death of another woman in his life. The floor below was chattering but the sound faintly disappeared. Only the crick-crack noise from the wooden floor remained.

He traced his thumb with each finger, trying to feel that warmth again. Then he looked at them, questioning why he did such a thing. Somehow, the scene of previous night came back to him.

"Don't you dare to take what's MINE, Potter," Severus marched into Harry's room after the young wizard opened the door. After calming from the panic earlier, he went back to the living room and found no one there. He almost thought that the girl was in critical condition and had transported to St. Mungo. However, Remus informed him that Harry had carried her up stair right after Madam Pomfrey left.

"Really? She's YOUR now?" Harry grabbed Severus's arm and pulled him back. "I knocked on your door twice, TWICE, Snape! If you have no intention of taking care of her, then get the fuck out of my room now."

Indeed, Harry did that much to let the Potion's Master know that Katherine needed a place to rest, but after two knocks and no response, he decided to bring her back to his room. However, he did not expect the wizard to march in and yelled to his face. He clearly knew that Harry had a feeling toward the young witch, but never did anything to cause a disaster to their relationship.

Severus glared at Harry for a moment then pulled his arm away, turning his attention to the girl was laying unconscious on the bed. Her eyelids were moving as she would wake up any minute now.

"Stop that," Harry stepped in front of Severus, preventing him from getting closer to the bed. His voice suddenly soften as if he was begging, "Please spare her! She suffers almost three years now, Snape. She's not happy!"

Severus did not say a thing and glared at him in silence.

"Seriously? And you say she's your? You cannot even see that she is suffering in your relationship," Harry felt disappointing at Severus's reaction, he huffed pitily. "Do you know how much she want a family? Do you even know she broke down for weeks after you tore the marriage contract? And I am sure you don't even know why she calls it a marriage contract right? She's losing interest in you!"

"Any couple has problems, Potter," Severus remained his neutral tone, showing no effect from what Harry told him. However, as much as he tried to hide away his reaction, he knew what Harry was talking about. Their relationship in the past few months were unstable.

He pushed the young wizard to a side and picked the young witch up, carrying her out of the room. When he walked pass the door, he did not forget to put up a spell, blocking the young wizard to go after him and _her._

 _So you're losing interest in me, huh?_ He looked the small figure that curled up in his arms. Her breath was even and he could feel her body snuggled close to his. He felt his body was shaking slightly but he withheld the motion while carefully brought her back to his room. After putting her down and tugging her in, he sat on the bed and watched her face. They had dated for almost three years. He still remembered the stubborn girl with a big heart, who easily forgave all of his hateful comments. She always found the positive things in his wicked personalities. However, somewhere deep in his heart, he knew their relationship was not the same as before.

His fingers brushed tenderly through her blonde hair. The memory of the night she handed him the marriage contract was playing in his head again.

It was a raining day in early October and their operation was not going well. Four people were captured by the Judgment Forces while everyone else was wounded. He got a couple of new scars from it as well. They were angry and tired. The only thing that he was looking forward in the end of the day was his Katherine. He was glad that she stayed behind this time. Otherwise, he did not know how he would handle his emotional if she got injured or worst, captured.

They decided that the meeting would postpone until the morning. No one had the energy to do anything right now. Severus quickly left the living room and headed up to his room. He just needed to wrap her in his arms and fell asleep together. He desperately needed her.

His hand turned the door's knob and pushed the door opened. The lamp's light brightened his eyes for a few seconds and then he saw her, sitting nervously on their bed.

"How's your leg?" he asked while taking off his robe and putting it away.

"It's not hurt anymore," she looked at him and smiled nervously.

"You have something to say?" he noticed her uneasiness.

"Today… is our... anniversary," she suddenly found her voice broke down as something stuck in her throat.

"I know," he responded. "I have something for you."

She stared at him with a surprise look and her eyes became wider as he presented the gift. It was a small box with a silver wrap and a golden ribbon. She looked back at him again, unsure if she could open it now or later. He gestured her to open it when he sensed her hesitation. She smiled shyly and carefully unwrapped the gift. When she finally opened the small box, she saw a vial with deep red liquid.

"How… did… you know?" She asked him, her voice softly shook.

"I saw you wrote down the name in your journal," he tried to look else where, hiding his burning cheek. "I know you don't have time to brew one and it was too expensive to buy."

"You brewed this?" She left the bed long ago, and now stood close to him, looking up with her big and beautiful eyes.

He smiled faintly at her as he leaned down a kiss her forehead, "Happy anniversary, Kate."

She clutched on him and soon found her lips touched his own. She wanted to let the evening slide to what both of them wanted, but something held her back. She broke kiss shortly after that.

"Is something wrong?" he confused, not sure of her change.

"I know we talk about this before," she paused while summoned a piece of parchment from the desk. "But I hope you consider it this time. I don't mind any consequence, Severus. Even, if tomorrow neither of us are alive, I want to be called as Katherine Snape, not Katherine Holmes."

His face suddenly became blank, then it got darker. He did not even take a look at the parchment that she gave him, he tore it apart.

"When we first begin this relationship, we make a promise to never talk about marriage," he turned his back to her now, picking up his robe. "If you find the promise is difficult to bear, feel free to leave."

With that, he led himself out of the room. For weeks, they barely talked to each other. He ignored her and stayed out of their room as much as possible. Their tension was so obvious that even an absent-mind as Ronald could figure out there were something wrong between the two. It was not until currently operation, that they forced to partner up again. And she was the one who apologized, _again_ , for something… _she did nothing wrong_.

 _Marriage contract?_ Indeed, he had not know of its meaning when Harry asked him. However, when he was sitting in his room with a sleepy _Stella_ on the bed. His eyes caught the parchments laid on the floor. They had been there since the morning when he was hurry out of the room and did not notice them. He scanned them and quickly spotted the one and only parchment that could not have been there, their marriage contract. He accioed it to his hand. He could see that she had used magic to glue it back together. His thumb was rubbing on the faint lines that the rip left behind. _Nothing can completely heal, even a tearable parchment._ He directed his focus back to the content and began to read. His body slowly moved away from Stella as his focus completely stuck in the parchment.

Katherine was trying her best to accommodate his rude attitudes toward the matter. She asked for nothing in their marriage, no children, no bonding, and no attachment. " _Even, if tomorrow neither of us are alive, I want to be called as Katherine Snape, not Katherine Holmes."_ Her last statement echoed hauntly inside his head. She never asked anything from him and the little thing she wanted was an acknowledgement as his someone, _his wife._

Severus let out a heavy sigh. He loved her, but he could not bring himself to accept her proposal. He did not want to be her burden if something actually happened to him. They were at war. He had wished that if they survived the war, he would definitely make her dream came true. Unfortunately, she was gone too soon. And the last weeks they were together were the most hatest moment that he wished he could reverse it. Though, she left him, knowing he would never _marry_ her.

His head fell back as it rested against the door. He closed his eyes and tried to withhold the tears that started to leak out from the corner of his eyes.

"Hey," a voice reached out to him as the door behind him suddenly cracked open. "Do you need a hug?"

He almost lost his balance as she opened the door, but his hands quickly touched the floor and kept himself from falling backward. He stood up without facing her, he shook his head, "Don't push yourself, Miss Holmes."

"Push?" she came close to him, trying to take a peek at his face, but the light shied away from the hallway. "I am offering a hug as an apology, Professor, for my _incredible_ sense of humor" she clarified her action as she failed to read his expression. "I don't hug people as a hobby."

"So hug can be a hobby?" he chuckled, trying to hide away his sour feeling. He turned around and almost clashed his body to her. She stood too close him. "You seem to have a very limited of what a personal space should be."

"I… I don't think you would turn around that soon," she swallowed hard as she said, staring to his chest. "And I know someone loves to hug people to the point, they declare that it is their hobby."

He looked at Stella amusingly. She surely had the appearance of Katherine, but their personality was different. Katherine was more subtle, elegant, and gentle, while Stella, well, was a little bit strange, slow, and interesting language. She was the opposite of Katherine. However, he thanked to their differences that he could separate them mentally.

He gestured her to her bed and he sat back down to his chair, continuing their conversation.

"Let not dwelling on the problem for any longer," he began as he settled down. "Someone need you in this world for a particular reason, and we will figure it out along the way. Meanwhile, we cannot risk to have anyone knew that you possessed Katherine's body and she passed away. It's for your safety as well as everyone here. Thus, becoming her is your only choice."

He made it quick and clear. They did not have the time to fully plan this out as he wished. Another attack would come soon and he needed her out there.

Severus waited for Stella's response, but the girl's eyes kept staring at him. Later on into their relationship, he found out that she absorbed information painfully slow. However, for now, he just had a little bit of doubt in her ability to process it.

She listened carefully to his words, trying to analyze it as quick as possible. However, fun was the first thing came to her mind when she listened to his idea. She giggled to the enjoyment and failed to see his face was getting very strange.

"Okay," she smiled beamingly at him. "So how're we going to do this?"

He actually shocked at her reply, she accepted it too easy. "Should you question my motive of keeping you here? You know you can just walk out of here and go anywhere you want."

"Why should I question your motive?" She failed to understand his implication.

"That's how a _normal_ person should process this situation," he said horrified. "Miss Holmes, you're talking to a completely stranger. You cannot accept a request that easy without having a serious think about it. What if I am the one who transports your soul here? Did you even consider that possibility?"

"No, you can't be a bad person," she laughed at his idea, but she looked at him again, his face was telling something else. "Wait? Are you serious? You're the bad guy?"

He groaned at her words. _What the bloody hell am I getting myself into?_

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 **A/N:** I didn't think it took this long to finish. I acutally put a hold to the other ff to finish this one lol Read & review then everyone ^o^


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** All belong to J.K. Rowling

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 **The Pentacle, The Scars, and Her Magic Power**

Someone came up to the room while Severus and Stella was talking. He signaled her to lie down while he approached the door. He turned the knob and pushed the door opened. On the other side of the door was Remus Lupin. Severus raised an eyebrow at the man, questioning his presence.

"How's Katherine?" Remus asked. His voice was gentle and warm as always.

"She's doing fine, Remus," Severus replied irritably.

 _Professor Lupin?_ Stella recognized the name, but stayed still. Severus warned her about interacting with others while she was not fully understood Katherine's personality and what was happening in the Wizarding World. However, he could not forbid her to admire her favorite character. She giggled in silent with the thought that she could finally meet a fictional character for real. And she did not realize she met one already.

She pulled the sheet down and looked around when she heard the door closed.

"Did something happen?" She asked him curiously.

"No," he shook his head. "Stay here and rest. I will be gone for a few hours. If you need anything just call Tinky." He sounded hurried.

"Where are you going?" She suddenly felt worried of staying there by herself, not bothering to ask him about Tinky.

Her words somehow stopped him from moving. His eyes lingered on her for a second then he walked out of the room, leaving the question hung there, unanswered.

She felt surprise and a bit of guilt, watching the man left without bothering to answer her question. _Was it too forward? Too personal?_ She never knew. A tiny voice in her head kept reminding her that he hated her for killing Katherine. _That's why._ Besides, she was nobody to him. Why would he bother to answer her question? She was just someone who _borrowed_ his lover's body, just a stranger. She should be graceful that he kept her there and helped her out, when he did not need to.

She stood up and looked out the window. It was a nice day. The wind was blowing softly to the room, bringing the calm and relax breeze. She closed her eyes and inhaled it. Unfortunately, it did not seem to ease her mind right now. She sighed and headed to the bathroom. Even in a depressed situation, she still needed a bath. She did not know how long she had not bathed, but her natural smell was getting a bit of strong, _too strong._

Stepping inside the bathroom, she noticed there was no sight of women's products. An old bar of soap was the only thing she saw. She picked it up and examined. It was old but usable. She put it down and started to fill the bathtub. _That's odd._ She thought, wondering about the relationship between Severus and Kate. She could not read him, so he was not sure how much love he had for Kate. However, she had a feeling that he cared for her beyond a friend should be. Yet, looking around the room and especially the bathroom, there were nothing reflected of a female's presence. She shook her head, trying to dismiss the thought. She was not in the place to judge anyone's relationship, but the questions kept lingering in her mind as she prepared her bath.

Stella used the shirt's sleeve and cleaned the mirror. Her new appearance, no, it was Katherine's appearance, reflected on the mirror, A long and curly blonde hair, an oval face, big and sparkling blue eyes, a rather small nose, and a full but cute lips. She had a new reasonable height and a very lean body. A typical beauty in everyone's eyes, but not in her; she did not like it. She was comfortable with her own beauty, even though, it was oddly below the expectation sometimes.

She began to unbutton her shirt, reminding herself that she did not have a choice in choosing which body to possess. Then she examined her hair. _I should cut it shorter._ She was planning to do that before any of these happened. The thought then shifted to Charley. She looked at herself in the mirror, questioning the identity of the man who had been her boyfriend for more than four years. His motive was unknown to her. She was nobody. She did not have secret power or a hidden talent. _Why would he choose her?_

She unhooked her bra and slipped out of her jean. She subconsciously checked the pockets and found a piece of parchment. Curiously, she opened it. In the middle of it, a drawing of a circle together with some unidentified language. _The language looks similar to the one on the pentacle._ She murmured while analyzing it. However, the drawing was not completed, something was missing from the center of the drawing.

She was not sure how long she stood in the bathroom and consumed her thought in the drawing. By the time, she broke her eyes away from the drawing was when the bathtub was overflowed with water. _Fuck!_ She cursed as she rushed to turn off the water.

With the parchment was still in her hand, Stella completely forgot about the bath she was planning to have. She walked out of the bathroom, naked except for her knicker, and headed to the desk. Something clicked in her brain about that particular drawing.

"Fuck off, Remus! I'm not in the mood right now!" Severus angrily stormed in his room and slammed the door behind him. He took off his robe and threw it on the bed, still cursing under his breath. He had not noticed a certain _naked_ person in the room. "Do you need…" he voice trailed off as he stared to the back of a naked woman. He finally saw her.

"Oh Gods! Professor," Stella jumped up, remembering how naked she was. She quickly grabbed the bed's sheet and wrapped herself. Her face was scarlet. "I thought you said you won't be back for couple of hours."

"A few thing happened… Turnaround," he said, surprised both the speaker and the listener.

"What?" she looked confused.

"Turn. Around," he pressed hard on each word that left his mouth. He saw something on her back, which should not support to be there.

She closed her eyes and murmured something before she turned around as he asked. Her hands held tight to the bed's sheet, waiting for whatever was going to happen next. She listened to his footstep which was getting closer and closer. Eventually, she felt his palm touched her right shoulder, making her skin tingling. It was a strange but familiar energy spread from his touch to her skin. She held her breath as his other hand pulled the bed's sheet down, revealing her bare back to him. Then she felt his fingertips traced her back slowly.

"What happened to your back?" he asked, his voice was abnormally trembling.

"What happened to my back?" she repeated, not understanding his concern.

She turned around to see his reaction and he looked deeply worried. She studied his face but did not linger for too long, she dashed back to the bathroom and showed her back to the mirror.

Scars were everywhere. Her back looked like bad meat under a very angry butcher. She scanned her eyes quickly to each scar. Her brows knitted in and then smoothed out. She saw something. She threw the bed's sheet out of the room and put on her old clothes.

"These scars are new, Professor," she stated as she stepped out of the bathroom. Her hair put into a bun.

"I can see that," he said quietly as he knitted his brows together. Katherine's behavior in those weeks finally became clearer. He always questioned why she needed to bring marriage up to piss him off. She knew well that it was not the time to discuss about personal matter. Regardless, she brought it up and they both ended up avoiding each other. These scars must appear around that time. _What was she planning?_

"I may be slow," she rose a brow at him, slowly spoke. "But in some areas, I may be a bit quicker than usual."

"Such as dream?" he smirked.

"Not funny, Professor," she huffed, clearly annoyed by his attitude right now.

He chuckled, amusing in her reaction, but did not press it further. "Please, continue Miss Holmes," he said.

"Anyway, some of the scars were a bit older than the rest of them, probably a month or more," she headed to the desk and laid out the parchment she found in Katherine's pocket, the pentacle, and a new blank parchment she saw nearby. "Normally, people won't notice the differences, but… well, just say that Charley prepared me for something like this."

"Prepared?" he took interested in the new information.

"Three months ago, Charley brought home a few puzzles," she explained while beginning to draw on the blank parchment. "He asked me to help out. Some of them were quite similar to what I saw on my back just now."

"Hmm," he nodded, making a sound as he processed this Charley's actions.

She arched an eyebrow at him but soon returned her focus back to their conversation. "You have came to the conclusion that I come to this world with a purpose," she paused, trying to form the words in her head. "With that thought, I highly doubt that the pentacle comes with me. And while you're gone, I found this piece of parchment in Kate's pocket." She handed him the parchment and let him examine it.

"Same language," he concluded, knitting his eyebrows hard.

"Yes," she agreed with him. "And this is what I see from my back."

Severus lay the three pieces of the puzzle on the desk. His eyes scanned slowly and carefully at each item. Something flicked in his eyes, dilating the pupils in a second, then he looked at her, he smirked. "Impressive, Miss Holmes," he said while putting the parchment that she drew on the top of the one from Katherine, following by the pentacle. He tapped the tip of his wand on the parchments, blending them into one image with the pentacle still lay on the top. Finally, a new image presented in front of them.

"It's a… lock," his voice suddenly lost its impassive tone, he figured out something else. "She planned this."

A painful headache surprised Severus, making him squeezed his eyes tightly. She watched his face's expression changed from one to another. She could tell that he did not expected any of these. _That girl lied to him_. She grabbed his arm, rubbing it gently. She was not good with words, but at least, she knew how to soothe someone.

"You can stop that now, Miss Holmes," Severus flinched away from Stella's hand, uncomfortable at her care. It made his head dizzy and his heart ached.

"I…" she tried to form something. "At least, we figure out something. If Kate has planned this, she may still alive somewhere. Or simply, she is possessing my body right now."

She smiled weakly while cursing endlessly in her head. The name slipped her tongue again.

To her surprise, he did not react much when she said Katherine's name. He just frowned then pulled out a wand and put it on the desk.

"This is Katherine's wand," he said, keeping his voice in monotone. "You can try it out to see if the wand works the same with you."

Stella cocked her head to a side, curiously trying to read his expression. He totally ignored the issue about Katherine. She had no idea if that was good or bad, but inwardly she felt relief that he did not press the matter further. Then she turned her attention back to the wand. She remembered clearly the first time she used it, she did not put much thoughts in it. It felt like something she had been doing for a long time. However, that confidence was gone. She stared clueless at the wand and wondered whether she should try to cast a spell or just simply ignored it.

"So what are we going to do with this lock?" she chose to ignore the wand and led the conversation back to the lock.

"Right now, we don't have time for this," he stated. "You need to try the wand out, Miss Holmes. If nothing unusual happens, then we can launch the attack sooner."

"Attack?" she finally remembered about the scene when she came to this world, they were in middle of a battlefield. "Another war?"

"Ah, congratulation, Miss Holmes, for finally notice the most important part of this timeline," he said sarcastically.

"Thank you for understanding my absent mind, my dear Professor," she sneered, finally got enough of his teasing. "But what have been happening exactly? Another Dark Lord? Death Eaters?"

"If that's the case, do you think they would bother to include me?" he asked in his mocking voice.

"Why not?" she questioned. "You're the best source to consult."

"Consult? That's an interesting way to phrase," he sighed, slumping back to the chair. "Gladly in an very unfortunate way, we are not dealing with Death Eaters or Dark Lord, but Muggles."

"Muggles?" Her eyes opened widely at the news, pausing for a long moment before regaining her voice. "Why? How can they know?"

"Apparently, there are a group of Muggle-borns and Muggles were treated badly during the Second War by Death Eaters," he explained. "They turn their hatred to us rather than Death Eaters, themselves. Those Muggle-borns invent a spell to reveal our identity and they are willingly to assist the Muggles to capture us. They refer themselves as the Judgement Force."

"Muggles against Wizards and Witches? Judgement Force?" she exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yes, another witch hunting," he replied. "This time, it's getting worst than in the old time."

"How's bad?" She asked in her soft and worrying voice.

"They successfully destroyed Hogsmeade…" he paused, eyes trailed off to the window. "in one day."

She gaped horrifying at his statement as her legs were weaken and finally dropped down to the bed. A heavy silence spread through the room. Neither of them wanted to continue the conversation. She was not in the position to make a comment. The war was something she only saw in a book, on a documentary, or simply through someone's story. She never experienced it first handed. The vague images from the battlefield that she saw suddenly replayed in front of her like a movie.

Dust gathered around people like a thick fog. No one could see clearly who was standing next to them. Dark figures moved around with lights of spells flew non-stop, one after another. She could hear people cried out from the other side. The line between killing a friend an enemy was just an inch away. She stood there, unable to move, as something bounded her feet to the ground, watching the chaotic of the war.

Stella slowly blinked her eyes and the scene of the room reappeared. She looked at the wand which laid on the desk for sometimes. Her fingers moved a bit but remained on her laps. She felt unsure of reaching out to something she suddenly felt unfamiliar to, but she grabbed the wand anyway.

The moment her finger's tip touched the surface of the wand, she felt a funny sensation. And then it was gone. That sensation disappeared as quick as appeared.

"What's wrong?" The sound of the wand dropped on the floor lured Severus back to his reality.

"It was there for a second, then it's gone," her voice was shaking.

"Gone? That can't be. I can still feel… your magic," he got up immediately when he heard what she said. "Wave it one more time." He picked the wand up and put it back to her palm.

"What do you mean you can feel my magic?" his word struck her.

"Just try it," he demanded.

Stella opened her mouth, trying to ask again, but then she decided not to. She gazed back to the wand, breathing hard, she waved her wand and nothing came out. Her eyes moved back to where he was sitting. She smiled weakly at the result, waiting for his comment.

Severus sat there, quietly observing her. He still felt her magic but he could not point out exactly where it would go wrong. Usually, if the wand was not compatible with the new owner, the magic still came out either too strong or had a bit of sparkle lights. In her case, nothing came out. _Is it true that her magic is gone? Then what is he sensing from her right now?_ He frowned, kept his eyes fixed on her.

"Let go to St. Mungo," he suddenly spoke up. "We need a full check-up on you."

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 **A/N:** Thanks to all my readers. Have fun with the new chapter ^x^


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